


I Feel Stormy Weather Moving In

by thewightknight



Series: Good Neighbors [1]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Accidental Voyeurism, Fainting, Firefighter AU, Fluff without Plot, M/M, Meet-Cute, a brief mention of blood, accidental injury, but in a kind of sweet way, hux is maybe a little creepy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-08
Updated: 2016-08-08
Packaged: 2018-08-07 08:24:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7707889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewightknight/pseuds/thewightknight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Hux moved into this little house directly across from the fire station he resigned himself to the noise because the rent was so cheap.  It took a few weeks before he realized the house also came with some rather nice perks.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Feel Stormy Weather Moving In

**Author's Note:**

> [This post](http://thewightknight.tumblr.com/post/148614466023/headcanon-for-adoption) crossed my dash yesterday and I have a hard time resisting fluffy AUs, it seems. _It's Raining Men_ came up on shuffle while I was writing this, so it's to blame for the title.

When Hux first moved into the little house the real estate agent made sure he realized that the rent was so low because the house was directly across the narrow street from a fire station. That wouldn’t be a problem, he assured her, and it wasn’t. The occasional siren and the flashing lights would wake him once or twice a week but he’d just roll over and go back to sleep. He’d dealt with worse in his life.

It didn’t register for the first week or so, the fact that the big picture window in his bedroom looked straight into the little window set into the shower in the firehouse’s downstairs bathroom, and the light had to be just right for him to be able to see inside. So it was one day, late in the afternoon, that he was caught off guard by a flash of movement and when he looked up he was staring straight at the wet, soapy muscular ass of the young black man who waved at him occasionally when he went out to get the mail. He stopped in shock, not realizing until the other man turned around that he’d been staring, flushing in shame that he’d been caught, but the firefighter didn’t seem to register his presence. Hux could see him, he realized, with the light of late day streaming in through his western-facing window, but this side of his house was in shade now and he hadn’t turned on any lights yet so he wasn’t visible. He still felt guilty, despite the accidental nature of it all, and vowed to pull the shade closed later, when the movement wouldn’t make his presence known. 

He forgot, of course, and then it happened again, this time with the short, cheerful fellow with the curly black hair. Why on earth did they keep showering at this time of day, anyways, when the light streamed in through their window just so? He’d have to make sure to work downstairs in the afternoons from now on. Except the only A/C unit in the house was in his bedroom, in the northern window, and his laptop overheated if he spent too much time downstairs in the sweltering summer heat. The basement was tolerable, but he lost the Wi-Fi signal down there. He’d get a booster next paycheck, he told himself. Except he didn’t. Because there was a third firefighter stationed there, a giant fellow with thick black hair and meltingly beautiful eyes and broad shoulders and an eight pack, and the first time Hux saw him in the shower he gave up all pretense of working and stared unashamedly, mesmerized by the constellation of moles scattered across his shoulders and the play of muscles under his tanned skin. And maybe, late at night, he fantasized just a little bit about how, well, proportional he was.

He managed to catch snippets of conversation over time and could put names to each of them now. The three firefighters were Finn, Poe and Kylo. There was also a cute little brunette named Rey who was there during the day but went home at night. She and Poe tinkered away on the engine a lot, laughing as they worked. Finn was always doing odd jobs around the station. Kylo did a lot of random wandering around outside without a shirt on. The man was a menace.

The problem with his accidental voyeurism was that he now felt incredibly awkward about introducing himself to his neighbors. He’d already let it go for longer than was polite and now he didn’t know if he’d be able to look any of them in the eye without turning redder than a lobster. He’d never seen Rey through his window so he might manage a conversation with her without dying of embarrassment, but since the chance of catching her without any of the others around was nil he took the safest route and avoided them all. Up until the point when he couldn’t anymore.

He didn’t do it on purpose. That would be stupid, to slice his palm open like this just as an excuse to cross the yard and finally meet them all. He could have just gotten over himself and started up conversations with them at any time, walking home from the bus stop or while taking a break from mowing his lawn. He could have baked them a loaf of bloody bread or something, even. But since it happened, he might as well do that stupid thing with the lemons people always nattered on about.

He had to take the pressure off to knock and he felt another spurt of wetness beneath the wad of towel he’d wrapped around his hand.

It was the smiling one, Finn, who answered the door.

“Um, hello,” he started off. Smooth as usual. “I’ve had a bit of an accident. I know I should make a call and do this all official, but since I’m right across the road and all I thought I could maybe skip that step?”

The smile disappeared from those warm eyes as Hux gestured and Finn saw the blood seeping through the towel.

“Oh, jeez, yeah. Come on in, man. We’ll check it out.” He held open the door for Hux and pointed towards the next room, what looked like a kitchenette. “Just have a seat. I’ll get the kit.”

He didn’t see any of the other firefighters as he settled into one of the chairs. The floor beneath his feet was linoleum, thank goodness, so it would be easy to clean up if he started dripping. He could hear banging and muffled words coming from two rooms over and tried not to stare, schooling his expression, hoping he didn’t look too eager, too excited about this whole strange turn of events.

Some of his disappointment must have shown through when Finn returned with the wrong curly haired firefighter, Poe, and not Kylo, in tow, although Finn misinterpreted his expression.

“Are you alright? That’s gotta hurt,” Finn asked, and he shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant.

“As long as I don’t wiggle my fingers it’s not too bad.” 

“You sure? You look pretty pale.” As he spoke, Poe opened up their first aid kit and handed him a pair of gloves. 

“That’s normal for me, I’m afraid.” 

That earned him a chuckle. “Do you have a latex allergy?”

Hux shook his head. “Not that I know of.”

“Okay, then, come over here to the sink and let’s see what you’ve done here.”

As Finn began peeling back the paper towels the blood started to flow again, bright red against the white porcelain. “Wow. You really did a number on yourself there. How’d this happen?”

Ah, yes. Time for the embarrassing admission. “I was trying to open up a coconut.” Because sipping a ridiculously fruity alcohol drink from a coconut shell while sitting on his porch on this blazing hot afternoon, pretending he wasn’t waiting for his neighbors to start washing their firetruck while shirtless, had seemed like such a good idea.

“With what, a razor blade?” Poe leaned in, examining the wound with clinical interest.

“No, just a chef’s knife. Not the wisest choice, in retrospect.”

“Yeah, you can say that again.” Poe cracked open a bottle and handed it to Finn.

“Okay, this is a saline solution. I’m going to use it to clean your wound and then we’re going to put in a few stitches, okay?”

“Hey, guys, what’s up?” 

Hux didn’t start at the voice, didn’t turn as Kylo slouched through the doorway. He also didn’t stare at those damned shoulders or those prominent collarbones on display under the black tank top he wore.

“Just a little first aid, my man. Our neighbor had a bit of an accident.” The saline stung, insult on top of injury. He winced and Finn grimaced in sympathy.

“Oh, ouch. That looks like it hurts.” 

Kylo loomed behind him. The sheer size of him from this close was overwhelming, and the scent of his cologne, something spicy and complex, tickled Hux’s nose and he was so big and warm and why was the room spinning and what was with the ringing in his ears?

“Oh, man, he’s gonna faint,” he heard, and then nothing.

He came to with the feel of a cool cloth on his forehead.

“Oh, look, he’s coming around.” That was Rey’s voice. Where had she come from? Hux stirred, trying to sit up, and arms tightened around him.

“Relax, don’t try to move right away. It’s okay. I’ve got you.” 

It was Kylo’s arms wrapped around him, he realized, and his broad chest that he was leaning back against. Oh, my! He relaxed, enjoying the feel of Kylo's chest against his back.

“Good news. I put the stitches in while you were out,” Finn was saying. Sure enough, his hand was all wrapped up in white gauze.

“You should be okay, but I’d suggest checking in with your doctor on Monday, okay?” Finn patted him on the shoulder and stood, and it was then that Hux realized he was sitting on the floor.

“We’re going to take it easy for a little bit longer, okay?” Kylo’s voice rumbled in his ear. 

“Are you sure, I don’t want to be even more of a bother?” Hux protested out of principle but really, he could be happy sitting here for the rest of the evening. Finn, Rey, and Poe had left, he realized. When had that happened? He tried not to put too much thought into the fact that he was now alone with the man he’d been fantasizing over for the last few weeks.

“Better to take a little extra time now than have you take another header and then maybe end up needing stitches in your head, too.”

“Oh, well, yes, that would be unfortunate.”

“I’m Kylo, by the way.”

That’s right. They all had no idea that Hux knew all their names. Dammit, it felt so good, leaning back against him.

“And your name would be …?”

“Oh, sorry. Hux. I think I’m still not all quite here yet.” He knew he was blushing, but thankfully Kylo couldn’t see his face.

“Your neck’s getting all red. Sure you’re feeling okay?”

Shit. “I’m fine. I think I could try standing now.” He needed to get out of there before he made even more of a fool out of himself.

“Okay, hang on.” There was a sudden absence of heat at his back and then Kylo slung his good arm over his obscenely broad shoulders and hoisted Hux up like he weighed nothing at all. It caught Hux by surprise and he swayed, and Kylo grabbed him by the waist to steady him. Hux blushed even harder at the touch. 

“Whoa there. Let’s take it slow.”

He could probably have walked without help but he was enjoying the feel of Kylo’s hand at the small of his back as he guided him across the room. 

“I should probably walk you over to your place. Just in case.”

“That might not be a bad idea.” He’d be embarrassed about the goofy smile he knew had spread across his face if Kylo wasn’t sporting a similar expression. 

The firehouse was strangely quiet as they exited.

“Where did everyone else go? I didn’t get a chance to thank them for their help.”

“They, um, had a thing they were doing. It’s okay. But you can always come back later, you know? I mean, it’s not like we’re that far away.” 

“I could do that. When would be the best time?”

“Well, my shift ends on Thursday afternoon this week.”

Was Kylo asking him out? One way to find out. Hux took a deep breath before plunging in with both feet. “Alright, then. It’s a date.”

“Great!” They’d reached Hux’s porch by now and Kylo handed him up like some gallant in a romance novel. “I’ll see you then?”

“Thursday,” he promised. A date on Thursday, Hux thought as he watched him saunter back across the street, and if he was lucky, several showers in between now and then. A flutter of drapes in one of the upstairs windows of the fire house caught his attention, and he saw Finn, Poe, and Rey peeking down at them. Grinning, he let himself back into the house, collapsing back against the door with a happy sigh.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to come say hi over on [tumblr](http://thewightknight.tumblr.com/).


End file.
